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What I am doing now

You are most likely here because you enjoy crafting. I have been reading up on some of the WoW issues regarding gold making, which make me realize that WoW is not the game for me.

If you want to play a game where gathering and crafting is the cornerstone of the economy, and are not faint of heart, I recommend EVE Online. EVE even has releases purely to support industry. You can play for free if you are good enough manufacturer or trader.

07 September 2012

I first started this blog when a couple of the existing gold bloggers bowed out. They had done their time, and were moving on. It was time for a new wave of bloggers to step up; and new sites to be formed.

I was a noob with half baked ideas and 'a cunning plan'. I was interested in writing about it; and it turns out others were interested in reading it. 200,000 page views counted by google stats, plus countless other views read via places like the undermine journal and via RSS feeds.

Very few of the authors writing when I started blogging are still talking about WoW gold making. While it is sad to see old names go silent; there are plenty of new names coming into the scene. This really is a reflection on the players and not on the game itself. A game that hold daily attention for 4 years is doing something very right.

To pull a number out of the air, it seems like there is about a 3 year authorship for WoW blogs. Plenty of time for you to be keen, eager and learning. Even more time for you to be strong and established, and to shape your community.

The hardest post is number 1. Number 2 isn't so bad. Getting to a dozen posts is a hard (all these posts and no-one is reading me). Getting to post 100 is a thrill.

To get a readership, it is almost necessary to get the eye of an established site. Some of my early posts had a readership of 1. But some those early posts were read I was picked up by other blogs. Writing relevant information will also get you picked up by search engines. Established bloggers have seen new sites come and go; and most of us hate removing sites so want to ensure that you have some longevity and quality before adding you to our lists.

As an open invitation to any upcoming bloggers, even if you have just one recent post;

05 September 2012

I still have a couple of months to go on my annual pass, and will see it out. But I currently don't expect to be on much.

I started this blog as a fumbling wannabe gold maker, seeing blogs that I had read sign off and the community shrink.

I ended up as a fumbling gold maker, and even managed to make my way through Dragon soul normal; no small surprise to me.

I have listened to many departing players state "The game just isn't what it used to be. Back when I started it was new, shiny and I had so much to learn. Now it's a just little more of the same." Every player I heard say this started raiding in the previous expansion of WoW, while also saying how great that expansion was.

What has changed is that I accomplished my goals. I made my gold; more than I thought I could; less than I should have. I spent most of my gold; sometimes frivolously; sometimes with deliberate forethought.

I herded cats; the single most demanded and unappreciated role is not tank, healer or dps; but is instead the organiser; the herder of cats. Each player has different skills, and is not always tolerant of others. As organiser; I went grey and lost hair; but very rarely had to sit out; even when I was the weakest link.

I also spent far to much time in /trade looking for 1 more any role - you must be gemmed and enchanted; but the runs happened anyway.

And I downed pixel dragons; on two levels of difficulty. But I was not up to the final challenge; herding 9 others through hard modes and heroics.

As such, there is still room for me to 'fail better', so I would not be entirely surprised to see myself back into WoW at some later date.

I am quietly confident that PokeWoW (otherwise known as pet battles) will not only fill /trade with even more nether region 'jokes' around downtime, but also create the raiders for the next 4 years.

It is a bold move, and will alienate older players who had to walk 20 miles to the local shops, uphill both ways, in the freezing snow without shoes.

WoW was a bold move. It gained dominance by breaking out into new fields doing what no-one else had done. It lost membership by doing the same thing it had always done with minor tweaks and being copied by everyone else.

However, for me currently I am failing in another game. Things to learn and places to see.

04 September 2012

I can only think of a couple of times that I joined a general QQ chorus and they generally revolved around real names or real id. But this one ... ugg.

This is designed to raise prices for most players and encourage more casual crafting and discourage anyone likely to be reading this blog.

There are several types of player in the game that get involved in the market in a serious way.

Casual gatherer. This person picks up loot, and sells it. Sometimes at the auction house; more often at a vendor. These farmers do not gather a lot individually but there are a lot of them.

Casual crafter. This person makes their own gear, and that for their guild/circle of friends.

Casual buyer. This person goes to the AH to buy stuff and complains about how expensive everything is.

Dedicated farmer. The majority of players - when they need gold, go and farm on their gathering toons to sell later. I have poor friends and those running GKP runs doing this. And the bots/gold sellers do it too. These players do not like the risk involved in crafting and putting items on the AH.

Dedicated crafter. The core readership of this blog. You like your bargains, know different ways to buy and sell. You love the grind of crafting (even milling and glyphs) and generally dislike the grind of the world out there. You keep the prices down by your wars with each other.

With the changes for (sic) spirit of harmony, dedicated crafters will not be able to be dedicated any more. will need to be out there more often. You might have a regular raid, but the chances are - most of us are not interested in spending 7 days/week raiding/dungeoning or even questing. Blizzard has said - that for most professions and most items - dedicated crafters are not welcome.

Now; what drives prices down so that Joe Average can afford items.
Two or more dedicated crafters in competition with each other. Leave me
to my own devices and remove competition, and I will charge what I
like. And what I like is far more than what regular competition will
let me get away with.

Since I started playing there has been restrictions on starter gear in the form of Chaos or Frozen orbs. At the start of the expansion when we are interested in running dungeons these have been fine. Later on they were turned into tradable items, and crafters kept crafting.

But by sending crafters out to farm their own gathered items, you remove the main buyers of farmed items. Yes, before, many crafts were restricted by drops from end dungeon bosses or raiding bosses, but more and more crafting is being bound this way.

For those that like simply to farm, or simply to craft (and there are a lot of each), then this direction is unfortunate.

The winners will be those that farm their own mats, then craft their own gear.

03 September 2012

Leatherworkers and Blacksmiths

Given Blizzard's stated intention that "Initially, we want crafters to be out in the world adventuring instead
of camping out in front of an auctioneer, hoping to score some cheap
mats.", consider taking up gatherer + crafter. I do not make this suggestion lightly, and it will still be wrong for a lot of players I will have a post dedidcated to the spirit of harmony later - and it will not be pretty.

My recommendations on tailoring also apply here:

Be ahead of the 'pack' levelling these skills, or be behind them. The way to be the most out of pocket is to be the average player these skills when everyone else is; following the same leveling guide.

Consider making some top end cataclysm PVP items to get your first few points

You will make some items you are unable (or at least unwilling) to sell. This is what (dis)enchanters are for. Have one or know one.

Assuming that LFD/LFR is again gated on gear level; PVP gear will be
demanded by newly dinged players. Of course you will level these skills mostly on the back of PVP gear, so supply will be higher.

Blacksmiths

You know that belt buckles will sell like hotcakes. As an added bonus, the (only) levelling guide I have read so far avoids them. You could justifiably craft these for every skill point you need. Every raider in the game will be getting multiple belts over the next few months - so on average every raiding blacksmith will need to make probably a dozen buckles each. Some will make more - others will only make their own.